Trance's Gift
by Xeromem
Summary: The sequel to krashkart's Trance's Tale. This story is a collaboration between krashkart and myself.
1. Chapter 1

Trance's Gift

"Like it or not, Boss, we owe them. So what are we going to do?" Harper hadn't raised his voice as he spoke yet the words seemed loud enough to echo throughout the ship. As Beka sat there in silence Harper's eyes remained fixed on her letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere until he got an answer from her.

Beka took her time considering all the aspects of the situation. The smart thing to do would be to say that Jenni and Concepcion's problems were of their own choices. The right thing would be to accept that sometimes your choices were made for you The smart thing to do would be to keep Trance on the Maru while she and Harper concluded their business and depart as quickly as possible. The right thing could endanger all of them if Fagin and Sikes heard that Trance was in the spaceport. The right thing could break Trance's heart if it turned out Jenni couldn't be saved or if she refused to leave the planet. The smart thing could lose loose Trance. After a moment Beka realized something else. Jenni was wrong about choices. Sometimes choices weren't easy.

While considering all of those things Beka looked at Trance and she could tell by the look in her eyes and the way that she had told the story that Jenni and Concepcion were family to her. They were just as much family to Trance as she and Harper were. As she thought that Beka could almost hear her father from when she was still little and wasn't yet addicted to flash. _'Booster Rocket family always takes care of family regardless of what the smart or the right things to do are.' _She knew that be it right or wrong in the end there was only one answer that would allow her to live with herself.

"You're right Harper we do owe them so we're going to help if we can." Beka could feel the tension leaving her body as soon as she said that. "So the question is how are we going to help them?"

"Well I know what we can do," said Harper almost snarling the words. "We can make those two scum bags Sikes and Fagin disappear, Or maybe be found in pieces scattered about the port."

"No!," exclaimed Beka and Trance at the same time.

Both women stopped, looked at each other ten once more began to speak simultaneously.

"I'm not interested..." began, Trance.

"We don't want to do..." started Beka. She stopped and nodded to Trance. "You first, Trance."

"I don't care about Fagin and Sikes," said Trance. "I just want Jenni and Concepcion to be safe and taken care of."

"We're not going to commit murder, Harper" said Beka in a tone that left no room for argument. "Those two may deserve it but we're not going to be the ones to do it. Besides if the police noticed Trance is in port she, and us,will be the first person they suspect. If we're going to decide to do something it will have to be more subtle."

"Does that mean you're going to help them?" asked Trance, hope in her voice.

"It means we're going to look into it," replied Beka. She fixed Trance with a solemn look. "But I want you to remember this. Jenni is a Flash addict. I know what Flash can do to people and how dependent they can get on it even when they know it's killing them. It's quite possible that Jenni may not want to leave Bathsheba. The same could go for Concepcion as well if she's an addict too. Do you understand?"

Wordlessly Trance nodded her head in an affirmative.

"Good." said Beka obviously relieved that Trance understood that it might not be possible to save her friends. She picked up a flexie that had been lying on the table and tapped on it a couple of times. "What did you say was the name of the officer who helped you out when you were leaving?"

"Asawago," said Trance. "I don't know his rank or first name. He was always just Officer Asagawo to us."

"Good enough," said Beka. Entering the name int the flexie "It's too late to do anything today but tomorrow morning Harper and I will pay a call on the local police headquarters and see if we can speak to this officer Asawago."

"Aren't I going with you?" asked Trance.

"No," said Beka. "You and the baby are going to stay aboard the Maru. You'll be safe here. Far safer than you would be on the street and considering that you're most likely a wanted felon it probably wouldn't be a good idea if you strolled into a police station to ask for the one person who would certainly recognize you.

Trance started to object but changed her mind when she saw her husband shaking his head 'no' "What will you do if they know I'm in port and ask about me?"

"We'll tell them you said 'hi'" answered Beka.


	2. Chapter 2

"I never thought there'd be a day," said Harper as he turned up the collar of his jacket to give some protection against the cold early morning wind, "when I voluntarily visited a police station."

"Yeah this is probably a first for you , Shorty," agreed Beka. " In a way this is a first for me too. This is the first time since I've known you when I'm not visiting a police station just to bail you out."

"I still wish you had let me take a gun along with me Boss," said Harper

"One gun is enough, Harper. We're here to talk not to start a war. And speaking of talking let me do all the talking. Otherwise we might find ourselves spending more time in here than either one of us wants to.

As they stepped into the headquarters there were greeted by a viewscreen showing the image of a bored looking man and a door with no obvious way of opening. A Beka decided that the individual on the other side of the screen must be a human as an AI wold never allow him or herself to look so unprofessional.

"How may I help you?" the image asked.

"Captain Beka Valentine and Seamus Harper off the merchant vessel Eureka Maru. We'd like to speak to officer Asagawo if he's still stationed here. Tell him that it's in connection to a mutual acquaintance, a piece of fruit. He'll understand who I'm talking about."

The man in the viewscreen gave Beka an odd look but said nothing, other than "Please wait. I'll let him know that you are here." With that the screen went blank and Beka and Harper were left staring at a closed door.

After about 15 minutes the screen reactivated and a drawer slid out from the wall beside Beka. "Please place your weapon the the drawer, Captain Valentine. It will be returned to you when you exit the building. When the security door opens there will be someone to take you to officer Asagawo."

Beka placed her Gauss pistol in the drawer which silently slid back into the wall. A moment later there was an audible click and the door leading into the police station opened.

When the door opened they were greeted by an earnest looking young man who looked barely old enough to be shaving regularly. He led them through a warren of cubicle filled rooms finally stopping at one and tentatively knocking on the cubicle's frame.

"Your visitors are here, sir," he said as he indicated that Beka and Harper should enter the cubicle.

There were two desks and chairs in the cubicle. Sprawled on in one of the chairs with his feet propped up on the other one was a heavy set bald man ,with a luxurious mustache and a nose that would have looked more at home on the face of the Earth eagle Harper had once shown Beka a picture of. On one of the desk was a picture of the man with his arm around a plump woman they were surrounded by six children, all of them with noses similar to his. His uniform was so rumpled him might have been sleeping in it. To Beka he looked more like someones genial uncle than a police officer.

"I'm John Asagawo," said the man not bothering to get up out of his chair. "I understand you wanted to talk to me about a mutual purple acquaintance. I'm glad you came by to see me It saves me a trip to see you. How's Grape? I hear she's had a child. Yours?" he asked looking at Harper.

"You knew she was in port?" asked Beka.

"She's pretty hard to miss," replied Asagawo with a wry smile. "Purple girls with tails aren't exactly common around here."

"So what do you plan to do about her," asked Harper wishing he had talked Beka into letting him come armed to the meeting. He would have figured some way of getting a weapon past police security.

"As long as she stays aboard your vessel, absolutely nothing. When she was spotted and associated with the two of you I called up the FTA files on the Eureka Maru. It seems the authorities on Roanoke are about evenly divided on whether you should be charged with grand theft or given a medal. Or maybe both. The people of Tesla drift don't have any doubts about the matter though. The two of you aren't wanted for anything on Bathsheba so as long as you keep your noses clean and Grape stays aboard your vessel everything will be fine. Besides arresting her would be too much paperwork. Your ship is registered as out of Winnipeg Drift so technically as long as she stays aboard I can't touch her with out an extradition permit from the Winnipeg embassy. And I'm busy enough without generating extra work for myself.

"So other than relaying a hello to an old acquaintance, what brings you here?"

"We want to see what we can do to help Trance's friends Jenni and Concepcion get away from someone called Fagin," said Beka.

The geniality abruptly left Asagawo's face and his eyes became ice cold. He abruptly stood up and hollered over the partitions. "Liza, get your rear end over here."

A moment later a blonde women even shorter than trance walked into the cubicle. "Keep your prick in your pants, John. I told you I'd be back in... " She broke off as she realized Asagawo had visitors.

"Liza," said Asagawo, "this is Captain Beka Valentine and Seamus Harper off the Eureka Maru." Captain Valentine, Mr Harper, this is my partner Eliza Bailey." Noticing Beka's somewhat dubious look Asagawo continued. "Don't let her size fool you. She could probably break your arm with nothing more than a dirty look."

"Pleased to meetcha," said Bailey holding out a hand to Beka. Beka took her hand. Beka was a bit surpised by the small woman's grip, which was as strong as most mens'. "What's this all about, John?" she asked.

"Liza, do you recall me mentioning that little girl Grape a time or two? She's a crew member on the Eureka Maru now. The Captain and Mr Harper say they're here to help out a couple of Fagin's girls Grape used to work with before she went straight."

Bailey's transformation was as sudden and complete as Asagawo's as all expression left her face. "Do the two of you have any idea what you could be getting into if you cross Fagin?" she finally asked.

"That's why we're here," said Beka. "We want to know what ever you can tell us about this Fagin and Sikes."

"Fagin can be summed up in two words," said Bailey. "Evil and untouchable. He's an FTA stooge. The FTA likes to have some local muscle on the spot for times when it's not worth sending out an enforcer. The port police commissioner and the chief magistrate are in bed with the FTA and the words out that Fagin's to be left alone."

"About the only thing I can give you," said Asagawo, "is the current address of Grape's friends. I have it in my file on Fagin. Just a minute I'll call it up for you." He sat back down at this desk and began to type in commands on his computer. A moment later he was studying the data displayed. "There it is he said as he reached for a disposable flexie. "I've entered the address in the flexie." He stood up and gave a theatrical yawn. "I could really use a cup of coffee. Captain Valentine, Mr Harper how about I get you some as well. Liza, why don't you join me in the cafeteria I'll need some help bringing back the cups." He then strode out of the cubicle with Bailey a step behind him, and the computer still on displaying his files on Fagin.

As soon as the two officers were out of sight Beka nodded to towards the terminal and said "Well what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"

"Why …... Oh I gotcha Boss." Harper replied as he slipped into officer Asagawo's seat then pulled out the cable for his data port. Once he had made the connection Harper followed the links to all the other data associated with the information currently shown on the terminal and began copying it to his data port. While that process was running he started another search for info on some of his old contacts here on Bathsheba. He found that out of the five he had known only two were left. By the time he had began copying the short list of locations they were known to frequent the first copy job was almost complete. While waiting he fought the temptation to rifle through the database for other usable information resisting mostly because he was pretty sure that Beka wouldn't like it and Trance would like it even less.

While Harper was copying files Beka kept a look out for anyone approaching the cubicle. This self appointed look out duty was more to keep her from seeing Harper while he was connected to the computer than to keep an eye out for anyone coming their way. She hated seeing him like that simply because it reminded her of a drug addict when they got a fix after being dry for a while. She just hoped that Harper would restrict his search to only information on Fagan and Sikes. She would have preferred doing the search herself but with Harper using his data port he could get a more thorough search done faster than she could. Plus there would be no information on the flexi that they shouldn't have if anyone checked it.

Harper had just finished disconnecting the cable from his data port when Beka heard Asagawo and Bailey approaching . They were discussing rather, loudly, the prospects of the local splat ball team in the upcoming finals. Asagawo a handed Beka and Harper cups of some sort of black sludge that he claimed was coffee. Beka took a taste and had to resist the urge to ask for water. The stuff tasted even worse than it looked. Harper seemed quite happy with his cup, but then he drank Sparky Cola, and that had warning labels on the side of the cans it came in.

Rather than leave right away Beka decided to make small talk with the two offices. She wanted to get a feel of how the local police felt about the FTA. After a few minutes of talk it became apparent that Asagawo and Bailey were among the minority of the force that disapproved of the FTA's heavy handed methods.

After a few minutes of chat Asagawo changed the subject. "Bailey I changed my mind. I don't want the Captain and Mr Harper wandering through Lowport by themselves. Get an unmarked car and take out to where Grapes friends are living.

"We can take care of ourselves officer," said Beka. She didn't like the idea that Asagawo thought they needed babysitters.

"I'm sure you can, Captain Valentine," answered Asagawo. "It's the local citizenry I'm worried about. If you go by yourself some fool will probably think you're an easy mark and end up dead. If Bailey goes with you they'll steer clear and continue breathing. My job is to protect the inhabitants of the port. Even when it's from themselves."


	3. Chapter 3

Beka had never had never seen any more of Lowport than the area immediately adjacent to the spaceport. When she was a girl her father never let her accompany him on any of his excursions into the area and when she was older she never had any reason to explore the inner parts of the area. From Trance's descriptions and her visits to similar areas on other planets she thought she knew what to expect. She was wrong. Her first indication that something was amiss was the gate . The entrance gate on the Highport side of the spaceport was what she considered a typical spaceport entrance gate. There was a perimeter fence sturdy enough but meant more to mark the perimeter of the spaceport than as a form of security and a check point manned by a trio of polite young women wearing spaceport security uniforms and carrying nothing but sidearms. The Lowport gate was something entirely different. The gate fence was actually two fences spaced about ten feet apart and both designed for security being heavily reinforced and topped with wicked looking spikes designed to impale anyone trying to climb it. There was a squad of guards dressed in riot gear and carrying heavy weapons. keeping watch at the gate.

"Good morning, Sergeant" said Bailey to the senior enlisted guard. "Everything quiet in Low?"

"Yes Ma'am" said the guard giving Harper a quizzical look and Beka a longer one.. "Been that way for the past couple of days, now. I guess they got tired of burning things down."

"We can hope so, Sergeant," said Bailey. "We should be back in about two hours. If we're not back in four contact Inspector Asagawo. He'll know where to look for us."

At the Sergeant's affirmative, Bailey took the hovercraft the through the gate, moving cautiously to compensate for the buffeting wind which was now accompanied by a drizzle of rain. At first the area looked like Beka remembered it. Cheap bars, restaurants selling food of dubious quality, massage parlors and various other forms of entertainment all designed to separate a spacer from his or her money. Then Bailey turned a corner and they were in a different world. It looked like a war zone complete with rusting husks of cars that had been pushed far enough off the streets to allow passage for one car at a time. Some of the husks had been burned out while others had been blasted with weapons fire. Several of those cars had clearly once been patrol cars like the one they were in now. The surrounding buildings were in similar shape as the cars and at first seemed devoid of people until she saw some movement by a few people within them.

As they proceeded further into Lowport the conditions improved. Apparently the rioting hadn't made it to this portion of the Lowport..The improvement however was only relative. Many of the buildings were abandoned with broken windows and boarded up. There were more people visible here but Beka had seen war refugees that were in better shape these people were.

"Trance said that it was run down here but this looks like a freaking war zone, " said Beka

"Hell, Beka this place looks worse than Boston did back on Earth." Harper said in a surprised tone. "The only thing that's better here is there ain't any Ubers grabbing people off the streets for their slave gangs."

"It wasn't this bad when Grape left," said Bailey using Trances street name. "Things weren't great and unemployment was high but people were getting by doing day labor at the port. Then the FTA changed their hiring policy and only members of the Longshoremen's Guild or bonded workers could be hired. Not many Lowporters could afford the bribes, err I mean processing fees to join the Guild and just be being a Lowporter is enough for the bonding companies to refuse to bond you. So unemployment went through the clouds and that's when things started going to Hell.

Lately we've had riots about as often as we have rainstorms . The last one was about a week ago. It started out as a riot then got really ugly when a couple of local gangs started fighting each other. Normally we would have let them fight it out among themselves but when it started spreading into what passes for the business district here near the port we had to get involved before they destroyed what little economy there is in Lowport."


	4. Chapter 4

Beka nodded her head while Bailey was speaking but her mind was elsewhere. Ever since she was a little girl she'd heard her father lecture time and time again on how things were going to hell everywhere. By the time she had taken over most of the duties on the Maru she'd long since tuned out his lectures on the subject. In the 16 years since she took over as master of the Eureka Maru she had noticed the gradual decline he had spoken about but she had never felt it emotionally until now. What she was seeing now made it all hit home so hard it was like she'd been struck in the face.

The armored gates at the Lowport side of the spaceport and the war zone they had passed through had left her unmoved, as had the deterioration of the landing grid and the cannibalized intrasystem freighters She has seen all that and more. It was the people she saw on the streets that rammed point home in a way that nothing else had. These people weren't total strangers the way the inhabitants of most planets, they were Trance's friends and neighbors, the people her adopted daughter had lived, laughed, fought, and cried with. People who she still cared about and who, some at least, still cared about her

Beka had seen war refugees that were in better shape and condition that these people were in. Refugees at least had a hope of finding something better, these people were dying by inches with virtually no hope left. The planet's economy was dying and its population was dying right along with it. The inhabitants of Lowport might be the first to succumb but the decay would spread to the rest of the planet until eventually the planet would have nothing to offer for someone like her and it would loose all contact with the rest of what was left of the Systems Commonwealth.

When they arrived at Jenni & Concepcion's address Beka couldn't help noticing a thin little boy wearing rags scrounging through a trash heap. As she watched a pair of bigger boys pushed him away out into the street so they could go through the trash themselves. On impulse she reached into the pocket where she had a few FTA demi-thrones.

"Don't do it ma'am." Bailey said in a sharp cold hard tone. "It won't do any good cause his parents will just take it and spend it on booze or drugs if nothing worse happens to him before that."

"She's right boss" Harper agreed. "If you do, that kid would be lucky if he made it home. See those two kids over there by the trash pile." Harper nodded his head in the general direction as he spoke. "If he's lucky they'll let him live after they rob him. After they finish with him they'll probably fight over who keeps it. Ya gotta wonder who the lucky winner would be. Come on lets go do what we came here to do"

As they walked the short distance to their destination Beka noted that neither Harper or Bailey had spoken out loud about the money she had been reaching for. When the stopped at the door to Jenni & Concepcion's home Bailey pounded on the door with her fist. At first there was no response but after Bailey knocked a second time Beka heard someone say loud enough to be heard "Okay, Okay, I'm coming."

A few seconds later the door opened revealing the young woman Beka knew as Jenni. As soonJenni saw Bailey's uniform her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What do you want Sub Inspector?" she asked. "You've no reason to be here. We haven't broken any laws."

"Relax, Miss Beaulieu. I'm not here to make a bust. I'm just escorting some mutual acquaintances. I believe you know them from yesterday. They just want to talk to you and Miss Pavlovina "

A look of confusion came over Jenni's face as she tried to remember where she had seen Beka and Harper and Bailey took advantage of the distracted state of her mind to ask for permission to enter before Jenni could shut the door or tell them to get lost. "May we come in to talk?" she asked as she began to step through the door.

"Umm." Jenni replied as she was forced back from the open door allowing them to enter.

As they entered Beka was surprised that the interior of the apartment was in better shape than she'd expected given the conditions of the exterior and the fact that flash addicts lived there. The room was neat and reasonably clean with only a few makeshift repairs visible. As Beka was examining the room and was coming to the conclusion that based on its condition the girls hadn't given up on themselves yet a raven haired woman entered the room.

"Damn it Jenni. How many times do I have to tell you not to..." her tirade immediately stopped when she saw Bailey in her uniform.

"Captain Valentine, Mr Harper, " said Bailey. "I'd like you to meet Adouilda Beaulieu and Consuela Pavlovina . They took care of your crew member while she was here on Bathsheba. Miss Beaulieu, Miss Pavlovina I would like you to meet Captain Rebekah Valentine and Seamus Harper. Captain Valentine is Grape's boss. Mr Harper is her husband. They want to talk to you about Grape.

From her position slightly behind Bailey Beka noticed that Jenni was wearing considerably less make up than the day before and her eyes were almost back to a normal shade of brown. She was also sporting what would soon be a real beauty of a shiner as Harper liked to call black eyes and another large bruise on her cheek. There were also a number of old bruises that Trance had been sure were hidden under the heavy make up on Jenni's arms that her clothing hadn't been covering. Beka also noticed that Jenni was showing the early signs of Flash withdrawal . The woman, who she assumed was Concepcion, appeared to be approximately the same age as Jenni She also showed signs of flash addiction just like Jenni did but she wasn't as far along as Jenni was.

"Concepcion!" exclaimed Jenni. "these are the two I was telling you about I met yesterday. They're from the starship Grape works on now. We need to give them some tea. You start the tea while I get some chairs from the kitchen. You would like some tea wouldn't you?" she asked Beka and the others.

Deciding that the tea had to be better than the coffee she had had at the police station Beka agreed. A few moments later Concepcion returned with a plate bearing some battered mugs. One of which was decorated with flowers. "This one was Grape's favorite," the girl said almost shyly as she offered it to Beka.

As soon as everyone was seated the girls began to bombard Beka with questions. The baby was a girl. Her name was Aurora. Yes, Trance really was the Maru's environmental system tech. No Trance couldn't come visit. The police still had a warrant out for her arrest if she left the Maru. Bailey had the grace to look embarrassed at that particular disclosure. Yes, Trance and Harper were really married. She married them herself as master of the Eureka Maru. It didn't take long for Beka to realize that the girls were not just interested in hearing how Trance was doing, they desperately wanted to believe that she was doing well. The needed to know that at least one of their little family had escaped the trap that was Lowport for someplace better. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to give the girls some of what they were looking for Beka embellished the stories slightly. She included the story of Harper's shootout with Wister and his gang on New Texas as a way of letting them know that Harper was worthy of Trance. By the time she had finished that particular story even Bailey was looking respectfully at Harper. Eventually the tea, which was considerably better than the coffee, was gone and the conversation began to dry up.

"I really wish we could see Grape again," said Jenni looking at both Beka and Bailey. "Do you think it would be possible for us to visit her if she can't come to see us?"

Beka decided it was time to get to the point of the visit. "I'm not going to beat around the bush about why we're here. The two of you took care of Trance while she was here on Bathsheba. Without the two of you she wouldn't have survived. We owe you for that and we pay our debts. We're here to pick up a a high priority shipment so we're not going to be in port any longer than we need to be. Trance has asked that we bring you two with us when we lift ship. I agreed. Like I said we owe you. You can ride with us to Sinti and start new lives there . Someplace where you have a chance to do something better than this." Beka paused to let it sink in then added "Officer Bailey has assured us that since you're not wanted on any charges here there would be no problems with it if that's what you want to do."

After sharing a quick panicked look with her roommate Concepcion answered "We can't go. We'd love to go with you but f... our boss would never let us."

"We'll be able to taking you some place where you'll be safe from Fagin and Sikes." Beka responded letting them know that they knew about Fagin and Sikes.

"No," Jenni blurted out. "No you can't, because no matter where you take us they'll find us."

All three of the visitors could clearly see that the girls were more scared of leaving their source of flash than they were of Fagin and Sikes. Bailey knew that Fagin and Sikes were just a couple of small time thugs who were only protected by the FTA because of the convenience of their connections to the criminal organizations on Bathsheba.

"You're just afraid of losing your source of flash." Bailey said dismissing Jenni's lie.

"No we're not" Concepcion insisted. "Fagin and Sikes have connections everywhere."

"That's a load of BS." Beka snapped. "I know better. My dad was a flash addict so I know how flash addicts are. There were times when I was a kid that me and my brother went hungry because he spent his money on flash instead of food. There were also times when he turned down good paying jobs because it would take him too far from his source for too long. You two are doing exactly the same thing. Fagin and Sikes are your source of flash aren't they. And you two will put up with anything as long as it doesn't jeopardize that. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you. If you decide you want to take me up on the offer you know where to find me. But make up your minds fast because once my cargo is loaded we're lifting off and if you're not aboard you'll spend whats left of your lives being used by any man with enough money to buy your next fix and hoping Fagin or Sikes doesn't decide to beat you just for the thrill of it."

"We'd really like to go with you but we just can't." Concepcion said with downcast eyes.

"That's a bunch of crap!" Harper's sudden outburst surprised everyone except Beka who was only surprised that he hadn't spoken sooner. "Look I grew up in a little corner of hell called Earth and this place is almost as bad. The only things that make this place better is there are no Dragan's grabbing people for their slave gangs, no Magog raids and there are better places to go to on this planet. Guess how the Dragan's kept their slaves from escaping?" Harper paused momentarily for it to register but not long enough for anyone to interrupt him. "They gave their slaves flash and got them hooked that's how. That way they could literally work their slaves to death and they wouldn't even try to escape because the Dragan's were the only source of flash on the planet. That's what Fagin and Sikes are doing to you. By giving you flash they made you their slaves. Is that how you want to live, as their slaves? Is that how you want to die?" When he finished speaking there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

Beka got out of her chair before either girl could formulate a response. Come on Harper, Officer Bailey. There's no reason for us to to stay here any longer. I've said what I have to say and I still have to arrange to have my cargo loaded aboard the Maru."

"How do you live with your self," asked Bailey when they were out the door. "You see what the FTA has done here yet you work for them."

Beka was in no mood to be lectured. Her visit with Jenni and Concepcion had raised too many painful memories so her answer was less than polite. "You have no idea what you're talking about. If the FTA wasn't subsidizing your spaceport you wouldn't have one at all. I saw the condition of the intrasystem section of the port. This mud ball can't even support it's own economy. You think the FTA is one organization working together to keep the little guy down . Well it isn't. There are maybe a thousand companies that make up the FTA. But only the top dozen or so have any real voice in how things are run. One guess who they run it for. The rest, like Tri -Galaxy were pretty much given the choice of join or be put out of business. They pay their dues and hope none of the mega corps that run things don't decide to gobble them up for a light snack. You're right. I am working for an FTA organization but they're as much a victim of the Alliance's policies as Lowport is. Now unless you actually have something intelligent to say you can drop me and Harper off at the spaceport. We need to make arrangements for our cargo to be loaded aboard the Maru."


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you mean you can't release my cargo?" demanded Beka trying hard not to raise her voice.

"Just what I said, Captain Valentine," said the woman on the other side of the counter. "Didn't you read the notice when you transmitted your request?"

"I read it and it made no sense," snapped Beka "No FTA cargo is to be released from FTA controlled warehouses until further notice. What sort of crap is that? I have a cargo to deliver. What am I supposed to do, just sit in port accumulating port fees and late delivery penalties until some high mucky muck in the FTA decides to release my cargo?"

The woman glanced down at the computer display completely unmoved by Beka's outburst. "According to this," she said more or less pointing at her computer, "you're under a six month contract with Tri Galaxy Shipping That makes it your employer's problem not yours."

"Can't you at least tell me why my cargo can't be released?" asked Beka thinking that if she knew why her cargo were being held up she might be able to find some reason it the should be released.

"We'll it's not exactly a confidential, but it's not supposed to be bandied about either," said the woman dropping a her voice and looking as if she was about to share a secret and didn't want anyone else to know about it. There have been a rash of thefts from the warehouses here. Apparently someone has been falsifying shipping orders and getting cargoes that should be transferred to FTA ships or other warehouses. The lock down was directed by the head of FTA internal security himself. He'll be arriving in person within a few days to take over the investigation. And if he says the goods stay in my warehouse. That's where they're going to stay. Rumor has it that when the director gets annoyed at someone they disappear, or else end up as an experimental bio war subject in an FTA armaments company.

The woman's tone of voice changed form conspiratorial to 'just between us girls' "What I'd do honey is if your boss starts to make a fuss about the port fees is to remind him that this is why his company pays dues. If the thieves aren't caught the next cargo that disappears could be one of his and if he has any complaints he can take them up with the executive committee."

"I see," said Beka realizing this was one argument she wasn't going to win. " I appreciate you explaining the situation. Come on Harper lets get out of here. I still have to break the news to Trance that I couldn't convince her friends to join her. "

As Beka had expected Trance was waiting for them in the_ Maru's _staging area. The smile on the girl's face turned to confusion and barely controlled tears when she saw that her friends weren't with Beka and Harper.

"I'm sorry Trance," said Beka. "But they decided not to come with us."

"'But you said you'd bring them," cried Trance.

"I said I'd try. I thought you understood that they might not come. You.." She stopped speaking as Trance fled from the staging area. Harper began to follow but stopped when Beka laid an arm across his chest.

"Let me talk to her Harper. She'll need you later but right now I think I'm the one who should speak to her."

The door to the berthing quarters was open and Beka could her Trance's sobs emanating from it. She had never considered herself the motherly type but the past few years had given her considerable practice at it. She was about to see how well she had learned.

Trance was lying on the bunk that she shared with Harper crying into her pillow. Beka sat down at the edge of the bunk near Trance's feet and put an arm on the girls hip. Fortunately Aurora was sleeping because this talk was going to be hard enough without Trance trying to attend to her child.

This was the first time she had been in the berthing compartment since Trance and Harper had gotten married. The compartment was smaller than her stateroom but the couple had done their best to make it a bit more homelike. Harper had removed the bunks from the forward bulkhead and the upper bunk on the aft bulkhead. He had then replaced the lower bunk with a larger one and hinged it so that it could be swung up against the bulkhead when not in use. Beneath the bunk was a small loveseat that could be used when the bunk was tied up. Aurora's crib was located at the foot of the bunk. Someone, probably Harper, had created a mobile of spacecraft and had hung it above the crib to entertain the baby when she was in it. There were several posters depicting scenery from various planets on the bulkheads as well as a to do list attached to one of the lockers. A scattering of small potted plants completed the décor.

Beka let Trance sob for a few more minutes then decided it was time to speak.

"Trance, we need to talk about Jenni and Concepcion. I remember you telling me that one of your roommates, I forget her name, was a Flash addict."

"Lita," said Trance.

"Lita, yes. Now I remember. Where there times when she wasn't able to get her fix? A time when she couldn't locate a supplier for one reason or another? How did she act then?"

"She got really nasty," answered Trance.

"And, nervous?"

"That too."

"Nervous because of withdrawal or nervous that she was afraid she couldn't get more Flash?"

"Both."

"Just like my father did when his source would get cut off."

At Beka's mention of her father Trance sat up. Beka had never hid the fact that her father had died of a Flash overdose but she almost never talked about it either. Seeing that she now had Trance's full attention Beka pressed on.

"Once Dad was addicted, Flash became the most important thing in his life. My brother and I were important but not as important as his Flash. There were times when we didn't have enough to eat because what money we did have went into his drugs. Dad actually turned down some job offers that would have brought in a significant amount of money because they would have separated him from his source of Flash. He feared loosing his source more than he wanted the income. And that's what's going through Jenni and Concepcion's minds. To an addict a reliable source of their drug is the most important thing in their lives. At the moment they fear loosing their source of Flash more than they fear Fagin and Sikes. And as unfair as it might seem there's really nothing we can do for them until they decide otherwise. That's what I need you to understand. This isn't your fault. I've talked to them. They still care about you but they're not ready to be helped yet, and until they are there's very little you can do for them."

"What can we do help them?"

"At the moment nothing, except maybe pray to the Divine. It will be up to them to decide when they want help"

"You sound like Rev when you talk like that," said Trance attempting a smile.

"Maybe a bit of him wore off on me," said Beka returning the smile. She gave Trance one more pat on the leg then got up from the bunk. "Now why don't you clean yourself up a bit. I'm going to send Harper in. He's worried about you."

Harper was waiting in the common room when Beka emerged from the berthing compartment.

"You can go on in, Harper. I think she understands the situation but it still hurts that she can't help her friends."

Somewhat to Beka's surprise Harper didn't rush into the berthing compartment. "I don't know about the Flash but the situation with the FTA inspection has given me an idea how we can put Fagin and Sikes out of business for good. But we'll need some help to pull it off. We're going to need to talk to that inspector again."

"I guess I'm going to have to apologize to Bailey then,"said Beka.

"Yep, you probably are," agreed Harper.


	6. Chapter 6

"So waddaya think, John"

"I think it's a bad idea, Liza Not just bad very bad. We're cops, we're supposed to uphold the law not break it. It doesn't matter if we're doing it for good reasons. Once we do we're no better than those we're arresting."

Beka , Harper, Asagawo and Bailey were in the police headquarters cafeteria drinking what Bailey claimed was coffee and discussing the idea that Harper had come up with to put Fagin and Sikes out of business. Or rather Asagawo, Bailey, and Harper were drinking the coffee. Beka had taken one cautious taste and set the cup down. If anything it was even worse than the last cup she had had at headquarters.

"You know he's guilty as sin, John," argued Bailey."And you know damn well that he's too well protected to be taken down by any ordinary means. So what are you going to do, just let him operate until he gets taken down by one of his rivals? How long will that be? If it ever happens at all."

Asagawo looked uncomfortable but stuck to his guns. "And if we do what then? It's a slippery slope, Liza. Once we start it will be easier to justify our actions the next time we're sure someone is guilty. How long before we decide we don't need definitive proof, just that we know someone's guilty?" He waved his hand to encompass Beka and Harper. "I can understand it coming from these two. They haven't figured out what side of the law they belong on but I expected better than this from you."

"Damn it John, how many times have we had definitive proof against those two only to have it disappear." Baily looked as if she was about to explode. "Look I'm not suggesting that we make this standard procedure but even you have to admit that if we continue going by the book we'll never be able to stop them. I don't like this any more than you do but Mr. Harper's plan is the best solution we have right now."

"I know that Liza but this goes against my oath to uphold the law and just about everything I've been taught."

Harper started to say something but stopped when Beka shook her head no and pointed at herself. He got the message 'let me do the talking.'

"We know which side of the law we belong on, Inspector," said Beka keeping her voice in a reasonable conversational tone. The last thing she wanted to do was give Asagawo an excuse to call off the operation before it ever got started. "Believe it or not we're on your side, but most of the time we don't operate on nice safe places like Bathsheba where the law exists to protect everyone and not just the rich. And sometimes we don't have the luxury of choosing between right and wrong because sometimes life only gives you a choice between wrong and less wrong."

Bailey continued to press her argument. " If you're honest with yourself you know that you'd kill Fagin in a heartbeat if you thought he was a threat to your family, John. Everyone on the force knows why you're so protective of the girls that work the port. They're extensions of your own girls. So here's my question for you. How many more Jennis and Grapes are you going to let him go through before you decide to stop him?"

"No, I'll have nothing to do with you scheme. It's unethical if not illegal. I could loose my job if I cooperated. "

The speaker was the manager of one of the larger banks that serviced the spaceport. Harper, Asagawo and another police officer who Asagawo had introduced as Sub-Inspector Ellgren were in the manager's office explaining why he needed to let Harper have access to the bank's computer system.

"You could loose more than you job if you don't cooperate," said Asagawo looking at the picture of a very young and attractive woman that was placed on the banker's desk.

"What do you mean?" asked the banker nervously as he noticed where Asagawo was looking.

"I don't think your wife would take it very well if she found out about your mistress," said Asagawo. "What is she, seventeen? That makes her about a third of your wife's age. I expect the divorce could be quite messy, especially since she's the one with the family money."

'"I'd be more concerned about your mistress finding out about her competition and the other way around," put in Harper. "You know what they say about a woman scorned. You'd have two or most likely three all determined to make your life hell."

The banker's defiance left him and he deflated like a balloon that had it's air released. His collapse was so sudden that Ellgren stepped forward to catch the man should he faint. "Do what you need to do" he said listlessly. "Just make sure that I don't get involved if your little scheme backfires."

"I wouldn't worry about that, sir," said Asagawo. "When this is over the police department will ensure that you get proper credit for bringing a criminal to justice. With luck you might get a promotion and be able to afford three mistresses. Mr Harper, Sub-Inspector, the computer is yours"

Harper had been reaching for his data port cable but stopped when Asagawo mentioned the Sub-Inspector. "Why's the Sub-Inspector going in with me?' he asked "Don't you trust me?"

"Would you trust you if you were me, Professor?" asked Asagawo. "The Sub-Inspector is the department's best computer forensic specialist. I had him check our computer system after you left the station. He noticed your little excursion. He'll be going along with you to ensure that you don't yield to temptation."

Harper nodded in understanding. "No, I guess if I were in your position I wouldn't trust me either. Lets do it Ellgren. I want to finish this up so I can see how Beka is doing with her part of the job."

* * *

><p>Beka pulled her borrowed hat down a little lower over her face, checked to make sure her hair was tucked up under it, and then slid a little lower down n the transporters cab. She wasn't particularly concerned about being identified but it never hurt to take precautions.<p>

It had been ridiculously easy to hack into the port shipping and transfer accounts and create falsified transfer requests. She suspected that when this doctor finished his investigation. Fagin and Sikes wouldn't t be the only ones being used as experimental subjects in an FTA laboratory. Whoever ran the FTA's computer security would be with them. Trance could have done a better job of securing the system.

Beka's concern was at the other end of the transfer. Asagawo had insisted that the FTA be able to recover their property at the end of the operation. Unfortunately he didn't have enough people he could trust to run the transfer by themselves and still carry out the other parts of the operation which meant they would have to use outsiders who could quite possibly recognize any of his men or women who were part of the transfer team. That left Beka to take charge of that portion of the operation since Harper was occupied at one of the local banks.

Harper had offered to help with recruiting a crew and and named a few names which had caused both Bailey and Asagawo to look at him curiously. Harper's contacts were as villainous a crew as Beka could remember seeing outside of a jail. They seemed to know what they were doing which made her suspect that this wasn't the first time they had looted a warehouse. She spent a brief moment wondering if these were the ones that had been stealing from the FTA in the first place

Her musings were interrupted by a knock on the door of the transporter. It was one of the warehouse clerks with a flexie in his hand.

"That's the last of the shipment, Ma'am. If you'll sign here you'll be free to go. Someone must have some pretty special contacts to get this stuff released. The orders were that nothing was supposed to be transferred till after the inspection."

"Not my job to worry about that," said Beka as she reached for the flexie. "I get paid to transfer the stuff. You get paid to give it to me."

As soon as the rest of her crew was aboard the transporter Beka put the vehicle in motion. She hoped she wouldn't have an accident on the way to her destination. Compared to transiting the slipstream this sort of transportation was positively dangerous. Hopefully Bailey was having an easier time collecting Jenni and Concepcion.

Jenni tried to ignore the feeling of nausea that was washing over her. She hoped that Concepcion was feeling better than she was. She badly needed her fix and if she didn't get it soon we would be too busy puking her guts up to work the streets and she badly needed to be working. So far they had had only two customers and after they paid Fagin his due and gave the receptionist at the hotel his cut they wouldn't have enough to pay for a meal let alone some more Flash.

She took a a couple of deep breaths to try and settle her stomach and tried to focus her attention on something more pleasant. It was good to know that Grape was doing well. She hoped that she had enough sense to stay aboard her vessel. What was it's name the Eeka something. No that wasn't right. Never mind As long as she stayed aboard she should be safe from Fagin and Sikes but if she left then she would probably end up on the streets like her and Concepcion. Provided Fagin didn't just simply kill her.

"Smile, Jenni," said Concepcion. "There's someone coming our way." It was good to be working with Concepcion. Working in pairs was always better than working solo. A John might try to rough up a single girl but they were much less likely to try and get rough wit a pair. And sometimes they go could get the customer to pay a bonus for a threesome.

The man approaching didn't look much older than Grapes husband. He looked vaguely familiar Jenni guessed that she must have seen him working in the spaceport area. He looked too clean cut and cute to be a common laborer and didn't look old enough to be a manager. Probably a clerk in one of the offices. She put on a smile and tried to look seductive.

"You ladies look lonely," said the man. "You looking for company?"

"Both of us or just one of us?" asked Jenni. "And just what sort of company are you looking for?"

"Both of you of course," answered the man with a smile that was almost sincere. "And as for what sort of company, why don't we discuss it in my hotel room."

Jenni felt Concepcion give her a slight kick in the ankle, It was a warning signal they had worked out. She was warning her not to take up the offer of going to the mans hotel room. "We have a room of our own nearby," answered Jenni. "Why don't we discuss things over there instead."

"I hope you didn't pay to much for the room ladies," said the man his smile was gone. "Because you're not going to be using it."

"What do you mean?" asked Jenni.

The man reached into his back pocket and Jenni's heat skipped a beat but instead of a weapon he produced a badge. "Space port police ladies. You're last customer claims you stole his credit stick. You're both under arrest."


	7. Chapter 7

Beka looked anxiously at the open cargo hatch above her head, then at the chronometer on mounted on the cargo pod bulkhead, and then activated the ships intercom system. "Trance I need you here in the cargo pod," she said.

"You've been moping because your friends didn't join you around long enough," said Beka when Trance arrived a few moments later trance arrived. "We have some last minute cargo arriving and I'm going to need your help getting it settled in place."

"I'm sorry Beka," said Trance. "I'm just ..."

Beka cut her off with a raised hand tapping the earpiece of the head set she was wearing. "Cargo's on the way." She pointed towards the open cargo hatch. "Stand clear of the hatch."

A moment later the cargo area was darkened as one of the port's cargo lifters positioned itself over the hatch. There was a whining sound and a box attached to a cable began to rapidly descend from the underside of the lifter.

"Too fast," screamed into the mike. Slow down.

The descending box came to an abrupt stop. Coming to such and abrupt halt that it recoiled back upwards towards the lifter .

"You mother loving, dim witted, sack of crap," Beka began spewing invective into the headset's microphone. "Whose operator license did you steal? I could handle that winch better if I was blind and drunk. Be careful the cargo's delicate."

Either because of Beka's outburst or because the winch operator on the lifter got a better feel for his cargo the box began to descent at a more controlled pace, settling onto the deck of the cargo pod with just a mild thump. At Beka's signal Trance moved over to the cargo box and verified that the winch cable had disconnected for the box.

"What's the cargo, Beka?" asked Trance as she continued her inspection of the box.

Her question was answered when a muffled but familiar voice came from inside the box. "Grape, is that you.? Will you open the box and let us out. We're getting hot in here."

* * *

><p>Beka turned off her computer display and got up out of her chair to walk the short stretch of corridor to the common room. Harper had breakfast duty so she probably wouldn't get food poisoning if she ate it. Entering the common room she nodded to Trance who was already eating and squeezed by Harper who was working in the corner of the room that served as the Maru's galley to pour herself a cup of coffee. Whatever he was cooking actually smelled edible. She sat down at the room's table and a moment later Harper laid a plate before her. Aseel eggs, potatoes and some sort of fried meat.<p>

"You're going to have to wash your own dishes Beka," he said. "The Glory of Inchon arived in port last night reporting problems wi6th her slipstream generator. Lyn Jansen wants me to go along with her when she looks at it. She says it's time I got some experience working with class Alpha generators."

"Just make sure you get paid for it," said Beka between mouthfuls of food. It really was good. Maybe she should assign Harper permanent breakfast duty. "Speaking of the Glory of Inchon though. They had some mail for us, from Inspector Asagawo. just finished downloading it."

"He says your plan worked perfectly, Harper. When the doctor and his goons arrived the transfer stood out like a Magog in a fishbowl. It didn't take long for them to discover that the truck had been hired by Sikes via an intermediary. Once they found out they started looking for storage facilities owned by either Sikes or Fagin. They found the one we put the good in and that along with the discovery of the money that had been transferred to their bank accounts was enough for the doctor to put in a request to the local police to have Fagin and Sikes arrested and handed over to them. A request which the inspector was most happy to comply with. Apparently Sikes didn't go along peacefully, he was killed while resisting arrest but Fagin was handed over to the doctor he was crying like a baby and begging them not to let the doctor have him."

"Good ,"said Trance. "I hope he dies horribly." Noticing the surprised looks on Beka and Harper's faces she continued a bit more defensively. "Well he deserves it after what he did to Jenni and Concepcion and who knows how many other girls. Are they going to stay on Kingfisher?"

"I don't think so, babe," said Harper. "I talked to Rev after we dropped them off at his hospital. He says that they can get them treated for their Flash addiction and can stabilize the degeneration of Jenni's liver so that she will have close to a normal life but that they really need to find a new place where they can start their lives over again. I suggested that he arrange transportation for them to New Texas and he agreed."

Beka's coffee cup landed in what was left of her breakfast. "New Texas!" she exclaimed. "Harper, I thought you said that you liked Jenni and Concepcion. No one should be exiled to that canker on the universe." She stopped to take a breath and glare at her two crew members who were trying unsuccessfully to hide grins. "Oh that's right, I forgot. The two of you actually like that dump."

Trance decided a little payback was in order for Beka keeping her in the dark about the rescue operation. "Actually Beka, Harper and I have decided to settle down on New Texas. We'll raise a big family and maybe some horses."

"Yep," said Harper deciding to play along. "There's nothing like a horse when you need safe reliable transportation."

Seeing Beka take a deep breath Trance decided that the teasing had gone far enough. "It really will be a good place for them Beka," she said before Beka could get her second wind. "They'll be exotic foreigners and none of the local men are going to care about their past. They'll have no trouble at all finding husbands if that's what they want."

"They'll be safe there too," added Harper "I told Rev to make sure the word gets out about what Fagin did to them. You can bet that if anyone other than the three of us shows up asking questions about them they'll be lucky if they get off the planet again."

Beka nodded her head in understanding "Plus the odds of them growing wings and flying through the slipstream are better than them finding Flash there. I hate to admit it Harper but New Texas probably is the best place for them."

She glanced at the chronometer mounted on one of the bulkheads and changed the subject. "I don't know when Jansen wants you on the Glory or Inchon, Harper but I do know when you're expected to be at the children's clinic Trance. This is your first day working and you don't want to be late but unless pajamas are considered acceptable wear you need to get moving and change into something a bit less casual."

As Trance and Harper took off back to their quarters Beka picked up her coffee cup and poured herself another cup of coffee. Her mind was on New Texas. If things continued their downward slide New Texas would probably become a better place to live than than most of the Rim worlds. Maybe Trance and Harper should think about settling down there and raising a family. She could visit them on occasion and maybe one of their children could teach her how to ride a horse. Maybe.


End file.
